Shift Knob Came Off While Driving!

[frank3]

Scared the bejeesus out of me...I was at a stop light and shifted hard from 1st to 2nd to get past the guy next to me and...the freekin shift knob came off in my hand!

I can put it back on, but it now rotates 360 degrees and if I pull hard, it will come off again.

Oh well, time for a new knob. Looks like the old one (seems like it's OEM) just snapped down around an indented groove in the shifter that comes out of the tranny. I would have thought that BMW would have had this puppy bolted in place.

Damn!

[Deloriant]

If you do take it off let me know how...I'm thinking about buying another knob

[jllphan]

Nope, no bolts. Removing the shift knob is quite an technical procedure. Yank it as hard as you can (as hard as you can there Lori, 'bout medium power for me :nana) and she comes right off. I replaced mine with an updated oem shifter and the fit is great.

[mech9T8]

Love that shifter jllphan!
Was thinking about getting the exact same one for myself.

[bmw323inewbie]

Yup the leather is wearing off mine, so thinking of polished aluminium or carbon fibre replacement, some nice shifters out there, I had a polished aluminium ball shifter on my VW Corrado , nice, except cold in the winter.

[n30g3n3s1s]

hahaha, thats a great story.

Yeah i got an aftermarket shift knob. Its all brushed alluminum but yes, its EXTREAMLY cold in the winter and flaming hot in the summer time. Despite the burning/freezing of my hand i wouldn't replace it. Its got a wonderful connected feeling to my car.

I love that M3 shifter. Is it illuminated?

[94BMW325i]

This is off topic, but don't BMW's have really long clutch pedals? My friends 323is clutch pedal was not level with the brake and gas pedals it was higher up. My first cars clutch pedal was really short tho. 1999 ford contour SE.

Still wish my bmw was 5 speed..

[bigred318]

my clutch is pretty long and pretty hard to dempress

DAvid

[94BMW325i]

Yeah with my old car you could push the clutch in really easily so I would rev it up behind my friends. With a longer clutch is it hard to start on hills?

In the summer my dad is letting me get a "project car" so I want 5 speed again I miss it. Still kinda miss my car even tho it was American... Had same size motor as my beamer but not i-6.

[bigred318]

Originally posted by 94BMW325i@Jan 21 2005, 04:07 PM
Yeah with my old car you could push the clutch in really easily so I would rev it up behind my friends. With a longer clutch is it hard to start on hills?

In the summer my dad is letting me get a "project car" so I want 5 speed again I miss it. Still kinda miss my car even tho it was American... Had same size motor as my beamer but not i-6.

[snapback]276302[/snapback]

no it is not hard starting on a hill, might take some getting used too... i was used to driving my truck and my buddies e30 which both had really short cluthes that had no pressure behind them, when i got my 325 it was defintaly a change.. almost stalled the first time because all the pedals were so much stiffer.. but after one day i was used to it, and have stalled like twice since i have had the car.. both times just in a parking lot not thinking etc...

but as for the shift knob, my buddy has one of those CF ones on his car, and whenever i shift hard between 1 and 2 or 3 and4 i pull it off and the car goes into nuetral. its really funny when you are trying to race someone haha

David

[drz]

Originally posted by bigred318@Jan 21 2005, 03:14 PM
my clutch is pretty long and pretty hard to dempress

DAvid

[snapback]276203[/snapback]

Mine is long and hard

[brien4787]

Originally posted by Deloriant@Jan 20 2005, 09:42 PM
If you do take it off let me know how...I'm thinking about buying another knob

[snapback]275860[/snapback]

are you getting another wood grain shift knob lori?

[jllphan]

Originally posted by n30g3n3s1s@Jan 21 2005, 01:20 PM
I love that M3 shifter. Is it illuminated?

[snapback]276176[/snapback]

Nope, it's just the oem e46 M3 shift knob. It is leather on the front side though, so it doesn't get really hot or cold. It's anatomic shape makes it a much improved shifter over the oem e36 knob. I highly recomend it.

Here's a link to buy it cheaper than what I paid (damnit) {CLICK HERE}

[SHAHAB323IS]

Originally posted by bigred318@Jan 21 2005, 02:14 PM
my clutch is pretty long and pretty hard to dempress

DAvid

[snapback]276203[/snapback]

you shut ur mouth mine engages high and is as soft as jello, grrr i hate it, anyone care to donate to the buy shahab a new clutch fund

[DoTheDew]

All you do is pull hard to take it off and make sure not to knock yourself out when you pull it off. If you need to take the boot off just squeeze the top and bottom and pull up.
Im orderign a leatherZ Shift knob when I get some extra Cash.

http://leatherz.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?...gory_Code=Knobs

Pricey but looks damn GOOD